The best Build tools
About Build
Product design is the discipline of creating products that customers want to use because they solve a real problem elegantly. It is not just how things look. It is how they work, how discoverable they are and how well they fit into the workflow of the person using them. Learn the systems thinking that makes design work and how to test your thinking with users.
Top picks
Figma
Enables teams to design interfaces and prototypes collaboratively in a shared browser-based workspace.
Best for: Product, design and marketing teams that need to design interfaces and campaign assets together in a browser, with comments, shared libraries and a handoff to developers.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Price
- From $16/mo
- MCP server
- Yes
- API
- Yes
Sketch
A Mac-first design tool for interfaces, prototypes and design systems, with real-time collaboration for teams.
Best for: Product and design teams on Macs that build interfaces and design systems and want real-time collaboration, free viewers for stakeholders and developer handoff in one tool.
- Free plan
- No
- Price
- From €11/mo
- MCP server
- Yes
- API
- Yes
Penpot
An open-source design and prototyping platform with design tokens, CSS Grid layouts and a self-hosting option.
Best for: Design and engineering teams that want a browser-based design tool built on web standards, with an option to self-host for data control or open-source requirements.
- Free plan
- Yes
- Price
- From $7/mo
- MCP server
- Yes
- API
- Yes
The top 4 side by side
| 7 points compared | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $16/mo | €11/mo | $7/mo | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCP server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API & automations | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Interactive prototyping | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Developer handoff | Yes | Yes | ||
| Links |
All Build tools
- Enables teams to design interfaces and prototypes collaboratively in a shared browser-based workspace.
- A Mac-first design tool for interfaces, prototypes and design systems, with real-time collaboration for teams.
- An open-source design and prototyping platform with design tokens, CSS Grid layouts and a self-hosting option.
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How we rank
Every tool in a category is ranked by the same rule, worked out from the data we hold, not by who pays us. In order:
- How many of the category's shared features it has.
- Whether there is a free plan to start on.
- How open it is to AI: an API and an MCP server.
- Whether its pricing is public.
- Name, A to Z, when all else is equal.
When we add a tool or learn more about one, the ranking updates by itself.